Chapter 30 — Self-Check Quiz

Twenty-six questions. Answer key in the collapsed block at the bottom — do the whole thing before you open it. All dollar figures are illustrative and constructed; all regulatory items vary by jurisdiction.

Multiple choice

1. The chapter argues that a small format's principal advantage over a brick-and-mortar is that it is:

• A. cheaper to operate per dollar of revenue
• B. more likely to succeed
• C. a smaller irreversible commitment
• D. easier to staff

2. In most American jurisdictions, a mobile vending permit is conditioned on:

• A. a certificate of occupancy
• B. a signed commissary agreement
• C. a liquor license
• D. a three-year business plan

3. The illustrative truck in Figure 30.2 pays no dining-room rent. Its equivalent "mobility cost" — commissary, event fees, fuel, maintenance, and replacement reserve — comes to:

• A. 3.1% of sales, half of Bellwether's occupancy
• B. 6.1% of sales, the same as Bellwether's occupancy
• C. 13.8% of sales, more than double Bellwether's occupancy
• D. 21.1% of sales, the same as a marketplace commission

4. Ranked by contribution per crew hour, the strongest channel in Figure 30.4 is:

• A. the large festival day
• B. the weekday lunch route
• C. the standing brewery evening
• D. the private gig

5. In a typical residency deal where the host takes a share of food sales and keeps all beverage, the host's largest single source of contribution is usually:

• A. the food-sales share
• B. the beverage margin
• C. the kitchen rental fee
• D. the card-processing rebate

6. A guest operator running a pop-up in a host restaurant may not:

• A. bring their own cooks
• B. print their own menus
• C. sell alcohol under the host's liquor license using their own staff
• D. collect guest email addresses at the door

7. The ghost kitchen in Figure 30.5 held a prime cost of 57.0% and still lost money. The reason was:

• A. food cost was too high
• B. labor cost was too high
• C. commission plus facility fee consumed 32.3 cents of every dollar before prime cost
• D. the packaging line was mispriced

8. For a delivery-only operation, the highest-leverage lever on profitability is usually raising average order value, because:

• A. food cost percentage falls automatically on larger orders
• B. packaging and labor are per-order costs, not per-dollar costs
• C. platforms charge a lower commission on larger tickets
• D. larger orders receive better ratings

9. A virtual brand is best described as:

• A. a franchise sold without a physical territory
• B. a menu-and-name that exists only as a platform listing, produced from an existing kitchen
• C. a delivery-only facility with multiple tenant suites
• D. a restaurant that has closed its dining room permanently

10. The chapter's stated practical standard for virtual-brand honesty is that:

• A. no kitchen should operate more than three brands
• B. virtual brands should be priced identically to the parent restaurant
• C. the guest should be able to find out easily what kitchen made their food
• D. virtual brands should not use photographs

11. A shared-kitchen incubator's principal value to a startup food business is:

• A. lower food cost through group purchasing
• B. a licensed commercial address, without a build-out
• C. guaranteed wholesale accounts
• D. exemption from food-handler certification

12. In the "rain year" scenario, revenue fell 16.1% and net profit fell:

• A. 16.1% — proportionally
• B. 8.0% — less than proportionally, because costs are mostly variable
• C. 43.9% — far more than proportionally, because the fixed block does not move
• D. 100% — the business lost money

13. Which of these does not transfer from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar restaurant?

• A. production speed under a hard clock
• B. forecasting discipline
• C. a tested menu with a known mix
• D. pacing and coursing a dining room

14. The illustrative truck project cost \$140,000 against Bellwether's \$620,000. The chapter's sharper comparison is that:

• A. the truck costs less than Bellwether's pre-opening budget
• B. Bellwether's equipment line alone is \$185,000 — more than the whole truck
• C. the truck costs the same as Bellwether's working-capital reserve
• D. Bellwether's FF&E line is larger than the truck

15. A festival charging a percentage of gross rather than a flat fee shifts risk:

• A. entirely to the vendor
• B. partly to the organizer, because a bad day costs the organizer revenue too
• C. to the local health department
• D. neither way; the structures are economically identical

16. The chapter's recommendation for the running project's small-format contingency is that a truck extension should be:

• A. launched alongside the restaurant in year one for brand awareness
• B. priced and deferred to year three, contingent on the restaurant running without the chef-owner
• C. abandoned as incompatible with a full-service concept
• D. substituted for the restaurant entirely

Short answer

17. Define commissary kitchen and state the two things it supplies that a truck physically cannot.

18. In one sentence each, name the three dimensions of the small-format tradeoff, and say which one improves fastest as you move from a brick-and-mortar down to a residency.

19. A truck grosses \$3,600 at a festival charging 20% of gross. Food runs 30%. Crew is 4 people for 12 hours at a blended \$18 plus 12% burden. Packaging is 3.5% of gross. Card processing is 2.9% on 90% of sales. Fuel and ice come to \$120. Compute total costs, contribution, and contribution per crew hour.

20. The illustrative truck's fixed block of facility-and-overhead cost in the ghost-kitchen example was \$71,600. Compute the fixed burden per order at 11,500 orders, and state in one sentence what the table of such figures tells you about the format.

21. A ghost operation runs 70% of orders through marketplaces at 28% all-in and 30% first-party at 3.0%. Compute the blended commission rate.

22. Explain, in Chapter 24's language, why a host restaurant's dark Monday is an inventory problem rather than a scheduling problem.

23. A shared kitchen charges \$32/hour. You need 12 hours a week for 50 weeks, plus \$150/month of storage. Compute the annual cost, and state the two features of this cost that a ten-year lease does not have.

24. Give two mechanisms by which a private gig carries a lower food cost percentage than the same food sold at a festival.

25. The residency test in the Business Plan checkpoint has a downside of \$430 against a \$620,000 project. Express that as a percentage, and state the single question the test answers that no amount of planning can.

26. The chapter says a truck operator's instincts are "actively misleading" about carrying fixed cost through a slow first year in a restaurant. Explain why.